


A trip down memory lane

by Vilgax323



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Memory Magic, No Plot/Plotless, Plot?! Who needs plot?, Time Travel, mentions of abuse, well sort of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:55:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25074961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vilgax323/pseuds/Vilgax323
Summary: Sometimes, the best way to understand a situation is to see what actually happened.OrMoments throughout Season 5 where Glimmer uses a spell she learned from Shadow Weaver to traverse the memories of others.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 95





	1. Trying to understand you

**Author's Note:**

> Me: Let’s see if I can finish this first chapter before season 5
> 
> Work: You have been placed on 38 hours this week.
> 
> Me: Well I don’t want to overwork myself, so maybe a little after Season 5  
> *Watches season 5*
> 
> Me afterwards: *attempts to write fanfiction*
> 
> Life: You fell too emotional to write fan fiction write now
> 
> So all that and some rewriting later to more fit cannon, and this chapter is just now getting posted. I hope you all still able to enjoy though.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While being held captive on Prime's ship, Glimmer gets a visitor that she becomes interested in learning more about.

Glimmer plopped down on the bed in her cell, tired from the day’s events. She had to admit things on Horde Prime’s ship had not gone entirely as expected.

At first, things had been somewhat odd, but perhaps as bad as predicted. Glimmer got to watch Adora nearly die during a dinner meal and then later proceeded to turn down helping Prime, even if she would have gotten a perfect life with her father.

The unexpected part came from constant visits from a certain feline, even after Prime had instructed everyone to leave her alone.

Even if the person was the last one she wanted to see, Glimmer had to admit she was somewhat thankful for Catra's constant visits. The two always found topics to talk about. It was mainly things about Glimmer’s life, whether it be from what her life was like, to what she would be doing if she was on Etheria right now. Regardless, the talks helped to keep her sanity. Glimmer pondered if it was the same for Catra.

Eventually, curiosity got the better of the Queen.

“Was this what it was like for you?” She asked. “In the Horde, I mean?”

There is silence for a little while. With their backs to each other, Glimmer honestly thought the question had scared Catra off. She’s about to turn around, but to her surprise, the cat-girl opens up.

“In a way, it was.” She starts. “But,.. Adora always helped me through it. Especially when it got really bad.”

Glimmer was confused now. “Why not leave if it was so bad?” She asked the feline. “Adora asked you several times, didn’t she?”

“You.” It’s here that Catra sounds angry, but just as quickly as it comes, the anger fades. “You wouldn’t understand.” And before Glimmer can continue, she hears Catra get up and walk away.

Glimmer just sits there, lost in thought. Maybe she would never understand. Catra’s choices were clearly driven by her own experiences and emotions, ones that you need to be there to understand.

It was then that an idea crossed her mind. She recalled a spell that Shadow Weaver had once taught her. One that would allow her to look into people’s memories, and alter them as she saw fit. Unfortunately, she had never fully learned it before shit went down, only managing to learn how to observe memories and nothing further.

The only problem would be figuring out how to use it. It would require having to physically touch the feline. That would be really hard to do with a forcefield in between the two of them.

It appeared that wouldn’t be a problem though. Catra had returned with a clone at her side, and this time, she was actually being let into her cell. The outside of the cell no longer became visible when Catra requested to be given some privacy.

Glimmer’s curiosity was drawn to a box in Catra’s hands. She was immediately surprised when she saw it contained a slice of cake.

“You know. From your perfect day or whatever.” Catra said, lightly blushing.

“Thank you.” Glimmer said, smiling. “That’s so sweet.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Glimmer figured that this would be as good a time as ever to try her idea.

“So I’ve been thinking about what you said.” She started. “About how I’d never understand you.” Catra looked over at her, looking confused. “Shadow Weaver was teaching me this spell regarding memories. I figured I could-.”

“Yea, no.” Catra said, interrupting her. “I am not doing anything even remotely related to Shadow Weaver.”

“I promise nothing bad will happen.” Glimmer says. “All it does is let me look into your memories.”

Catra is instantly angry, and for a moment, Glimmer wonders if she made a bad decision.

“Why would you even care about what I’ve gone through?” She asked. “What could you possibly want to do besides use it against me?”

Glimmer took a moment to formulate her answer. “Adora. She.. even after everything, I don’t think she has given up on you. I just wanna understand why.” Catra honestly looked surprised, her anger now gone. “I want to understand you, Catra.”

For a moment, Catra honestly looks unsure of what to do. Appearing torn between fleeing the room, and surprisingly, going through with Glimmer’s offer. It gives the queen a spark of hope that maybe she can get to see inside the hardened villain.

After a short period of silence, Catra relents. “Fine.” With that, the two maneuvered over to the bed in the cell, and sat down.

“So how exactly does this work?” Catra asked as Glimmer drew the rune for the spell and stuck her hand through it.

“Just.. give me your hand and... think about stuff you would like to show me.” Glimmer responded.

“Making me do all the work huh? You trying to get off easy or something?” Catra said, trying to tease the queen.

Glimmer frowned. “I mean, I could always just scroll through them myself.”

“Uggh, fine.” Catra said groaning as she stuck out her hand. Glimmer couldn’t help but how tense the feline appeared to be though. Regardless, Glimmer took a deep steady and grabbed Catra’s hand. Then everything faded to black

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The next time Glimmer opens her eyes, she thought she was simply out cold. Everything around her is pitch black, leaving her curious if the spell even worked. Looking down was her only hint when she saw the rest of her body was still here.

That was when the world around her shifted and she found herself in a section of barracks in the Fright Zone. Shadow Weaver was there with a young Catra standing beside her. She recognized some of the cadets standing in front of the two. They were younger versions of Adora and her horde squad mates.

“Everyone.” Shadow Weaver started. “Allow me to introduce the newest addition to your squad. This is Catra.” She gestured toward the feline beside her as she nervously stepped forward.

As introductions were being made, Glimmer noticed a few people silently making fun of Catra. They appear to be making weird gestures to her ears, tail, and mismatched eyes. Glimmer didn’t know what to think of it. She noticed the young Catra simply shrink into herself.

Afterwards, everyone was directed to their respective beds. Since Catra was new, she simply looked up toward Shadow Weaver, causing the sorceress to sigh.

“Take the bunk above Adora’s.” She said, gesturing toward the young blonde. “Perhaps she will be capable of keeping you under control.” With that, Shadow Weaver simply shoved Catra off in Adora’s direction and left the room.

Catra froze once she saw Adora notice her. Adora is saddened for a moment but continues to close the gap.

“Hey.” She says, reaching out a hand. “It’s ok. I’m Adora. It’s nice to meet you.”

Catra is hesitant, appearing to analyze Adora for any signs of danger. After a moment, she relaxes and takes Adora’s hand. Adora very excitedly drags them over to their bed.

“So you get to bunk with me huh?” Adora asks. “That’s so cool. That means we get to share everything awesome we did each day.”

“I guess.” Catra responds back, sounding unsure.

“Hey, don’t worry. So long as we don’t stay up super late, we’ll be alright” Adora moves to help Catra climb the ladder by their shared bunk bed. “How come your eyes are different colors?”

Catra freezes mid way to grabbing the ladder. “I.. I don’t know.” She seems to be scared again. “They were always like that.”

“Cool.” Adora says back in response.

Catra seems taken aback at that. “Y-You like them?”

“Yea.” Adora said. “They look really pretty.”

Glimmer could see Catra’s face go beat red. “Um..thanks. Normally people just make fun of them.”

Adora appears to actually get angery. “Well then they don’t know what they’re talking about.” She went back to helping Catra back up to her bunk. “We should get some sleep for tonight. We’re supposed to have a really important exercise tomorrow.”

As Catra made her way up to her bunk, Glimmer couldn’t help but notice the smile on the feline’s face. She appeared to be much more comfortable than she had been just moments ago. There was even a smile on her face. Glimmer couldn't help but smile herself.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The scene shifted again to the rooftops of the Fright Zone. Catra was there covering Adora’s eyes, as the two walked toward the end of balcony.

“Are we there yet?” Adora asked. “I wanna see.”

“Be patient.” Catra responded with a laugh. “You really don’t want the surprise to be ruined.”

Once the two got to the railing, Catra removed her hands.

“Alright dork. Open them.”

Adora did, and looked out in awe at the sight before her. Glimmer had to admit. It was a sight to behold. The setting sun over the rooftops almost made the Fright Zone look beautiful in a way.

“Wow!” Adora exclaimed.

“Found this place last night.” Catra said with a smirk. “I couldn’t help but think you’d admire the view.”

“It’s amazing.” Adora walks out and leans on the railing before looking back toward Catra. “What made you come up here anyway?”

Catra now looked somewhat uncomfortable. “Lonnie and some others got on my nerves. Found high up places help to clear my head and let me think.”

“I think I understand.” Adora said. “It’s kinda just.. peaceful up here.”

Catra came to join her at the railing. They stood there in silence for a moment, just enjoying the view. Glimmer tried to mirror them, joining in the peacefulness of the moment. Unfortunately, her hand phased through the railing. _Right. It's just a memory. It's not really happening._

“Hey.” Adora said after some time had passed. “Don’t let the others get to you. If anything, once we make force captain, we’ll be giving them the orders.”

Catra takes a moment to look over at Adora, appearing to take in what she said. “Why stop at just force captain? We can run the whole Horde, and even rule all of Etheria!”

It’s Adora’s turn to take in what Catra is saying. “Catra, you can’t be saying stuff like that! What if someone hears you?!”

“So what?!” Catra responds. “We’re both already at the top of our class. What’s to stop us from one day calling the shots?”

Adora takes a moment to think before responding. “Yeah. We could actually.”

“More like we can.” Catra says. “With the two of us together, nothing can stand in our way!”

Glimmer looked on in the sight before her of the two young girls turning back to the sunset before them. She couldn’t help but smile. They looked so happy together, which really did beg the question.

What exactly went wrong?

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The next scene that Glimmer found herself in was a locker room. Her initial search for Catra yielded no go results. In fact, there was no one even here.

“HEY!” A voice that was obviously Catra’s called out. It was followed by a short scuffle and a hard slam against a locker. Glimmer instantly raced around the corner.

 _I should have known._ Glimmer thought. _I guess Adora was the one exception for you. I guess to everyone else you were always just a-_

“Give it back!”

_Bully?_

As Glimmer rounded the corner, the sight was not at all what she expected. Lonnie was there with a few other cadets. One of the bigger ones had Catra pinned up against the lockers. Everyone now appeared to be a few years older.

“Wow.” Lonnie said. “On top of being the weird one, you're also a huge softie. What makes you even think that Adora would appreciate this anyway?” She held up the piece of paper in her hand. It could now be clearly seen as a drawing. It looked to be Catra in the fright zone in a suit of armor, but Glimmer couldn’t get a clear view.

“She would appreciate it.” Catra responded harshly. “She’s my friend.” The feline was trying to push off the older cadet holding her down, but he was clearly too strong.

“Please.” Lonnie responded “If anything, she’d just accept it to throw it away later. Here, why don’t I save you the trouble.”

“NOOO!”

There was nothing Catra could do though while she was pinned. Lonnie was tearing the picture to shreds with no one capable of stopping her. Glimmer could only watch with eyes wide in horror and a hand to her mouth. She was beginning to cry almost as badly as Catra now was.

“There we go.” Lonnie said, now rubbing her hands together. “Just wait Catra. You’ll see we did you a favor.” And with that, the group made their way out of the room. With Catra no longer pinned, she simply slid to the ground.

“I just.” Catra began to say silently. “I just wanted to finish my half of our drawing, Adora.” She crawls over to pick up the pieces of her now destroyed drawing. When she is finished, her gaze shifts to a spot on the lockers. There was a picture there of what strangely looked like Shera riding Swiftwind under a rainbow.

The remnants of the picture were now cleaned up, but Catra only seemed to tense up more as the room appeared to get darker. As quickly as she could, she wiped away her tears to appear as calm as possible.

“Catra.” The voice of Shadow Weaver boomed out as she rounded the corner.

“Y-yes Shadow Weaver?” Catra said, standing as straight as she could, despite how obviously afraid she was.

“I’ve heard talk from the older cadets that you were crying again.” Shadow Weaver continued. “Do we need to have another session?”

Catra instantly began to panic. “N-No. Please.” She started to beg. “I-It was an accident, I swear. It won’t happen again.”

“I should hope it doesn’t.” Shadow Weaver. “I should remind you Catra, that weakness is not something looked up to here.”

For a moment, Glimmer thought that Shadow Weaver would try to hurt Catra. Instead the sorceress sent the young feline to the barracks and turned to leave. Glimmer felt just as relieved as Catra seemed to be in that moment.

Glimmer took a moment to take in what had just happened. Not only was Catra bullied, but she got in trouble for crying? What the fuck was wrong with this place?

On top of that, Shadow Weaver had just made a threat to hurt Catra. Glimmer can’t help but remember the time that Shadow Weaver held her captive, and how scary the sorceress had been, and the queen had let her walk free in Brightmoon. Glimmer would have to have to make some changes once she as out of this mess.

The scene shifts, and Glimmer finds herself back in the barracks. Catra is slowly walking in while everyone appears to simply be calling it a night. No one appears to notice her down trodden mood, until Adora approaches her.

“Hey Catra.” She said. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine Adora.” Despite Catra’s best attempt to appear fine, everything about her body language suggested the opposite.

“Well.. ok then.” Adora appeared somewhat saddened, but ultimately dropped the topic.

The whole scenario was confusing to Glimmer. Adora was a good friend of yours. Why not tell her that she was having trouble with the other cadets? Did she think Adora would just worsen the situation?

That’s when it hit Glimmer. It would make the situation worse wouldn’t it? It was just like her own time as Queen. Someone else helping out would just make it appear that you couldn’t get it done on your own. If that happened everyone could consider her weak, then all the threats and bullying were at risk at becoming so much worse.

The Horde was really out to get her wasn’t it?

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The next scene had Glimmer standing in the Black Garnet Chamber, with Catra standing in front of Shadow Weaver. Catra appeared to now be in her young teens.

“I don’t understand what I did wrong.” Catra yelled at the witch. “I beat her fair and square.”

“I don’t care what you did to win.” Shadow Weaver. “I will not have someone like you drag Adora’s perfect record through the mud.”

Glimmer had to do a double take. Was Catra getting punished just for beating Adora at something? What the actual fuck?!

“What?” Catra asked. “No one’s allowed to be as shiny as your precious little Adora.”

“SILENCE.”

It was at that moment that Catra found herself being surrounded by shadows. The room began to grow darker as Shadow Weaver towered over her. The feline’s stance shifted from one of confidence to one of a fear. All of a sudden, she found herself frozen in place.

“I will not allow such behavior to take place.” Shadow Weaver scolded. “And I will not allow Adora’s future to be jeopardized.”

“NO!” Glimmer yelled. In an attempt to stop the sorceress, Glimmer fired a blast of sparkles. However, the projectile only phased through its intended target. It instantly gave her a sense of helplessness over the situation.

“If this is the behavior I’m going to receive from you.” Shadow Weaver continued. “Then perhaps I should make arrangements for a special session.”

“No! Wait!” Catra screamed, beginning to panic. “I-I didn’t m-mean it. I’ll be good. I swear!”

“Oh you will be. I’ll make sure of it.”

And with that, lightning shot through Catra, leaving Glimmer to only watch in horror. Here was someone who was suffering so badly, and she was powerless to stop it. Before anything major can happen though, the scene shifts, and everything goes black.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Glimmer awakes with a gasp to find herself back in her room on Horde Prime’s ship. Her heart feels like it is beating a mile a minute. Judging by the way Catra looks beside her, she doesn’t feel too much different.

“What the hell was that?!” She yelled. “You said nothing bad would happen. Why did that feel like I was going through that again?!”

Fuck. Glimmer had forgotten that the spell could do that. Maybe that was a reason that Shadow Weaver had thought it would be useful to teach it to her. She could torment Catra with her own memories. Just the thought of doing that now though made her sick.

“I’m sorry.” Glimmer cried out. “I forgot that happened. If I remembered and thought that things were that bad with you I never would have suggested this.”

“Of course.” Catra responded. “You princess types never seem to think about others until you have to face the consequences.”

The words stung more than they really should have, because honestly, Catra was right. All Glimmer had been thinking about when she had activated the Heart was winning the war. She didn’t even stop for a second to consider the consequences of her actions.

Catra got up and made to leave, but Glimmer stood up to stop her.

“Wait.” Surprisingly, Catra stopped. “I get it.” When Catra made no further move to leave she continued. “It wasn’t as bad for me, but.. I was treated the same way.”

After a second, Catra turned around. She was clearly surprised, but simply waited for Glimmer to continue. 

“My mom never used to trust me as a commander.” Glimmer continued on. “Everytime that I would come up with some bold maneuver against the Horde, she would always give me crap about how I could have gotten myself killed.”

The whole time that Glimmer spoke, Catra just stood there taking everything in. Hearing that Glimmer had a similar lifestyle to her own seemed to honestly surprise her.

“It took me a long while to realize that she was just really scared of losing me. She was just being really overprotective to the point where it felt like I couldn’t do anything. By the time we made up, I barely got to spend any time with her before-.” Her throat closes up and she is unable to finish that thought.

Catra however, appears to get the message. Like Glimmer, she shifts her gaze to the floor. The portal had provided a whole stockpile of bad memories for the both of them.

After a moment of silence between them, Catra speaks up again. “I get how you feel.” She said. “Adora was like that with me in the Horde. I should have let her help, but it always just felt like she did it because I couldn’t on my own.”

“I get it.” Glimmer responded. “There were always times I was at ends with her because it felt like she didn’t trust me. She tried to get me to not use the heart. I realize now that I should have listened.”

The next time Glimmer looks at Catra, there is something different about her. She appears to be deep in thought, unsure whether or not to speak up.

Finally, she does. “You want to know the big reason I was mad at Adora.?”

Glimmer is taken aback by the sudden question. “What is it?”

Instead of answering, Catra simply holds out her hand. It takes Glimmer a second to realize she wants her to use the spell again. Despite her hesitancy, Glimmer once again casts the spell, and grabs Catra’s hand.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

When the scene of the memory comes, Glimmer finds herself in the barracks of the fright zone. The sounds of someone crying draws her attention to a figure on one of the beds wrapped up in a blanket. From the tail protruding from the bottom, she can only guess that the figure is Catra.

A rather young Adora eventually walks in, roaming over to the covered figured and uncurls the blanket. The prompted hiss is only further proof to the look that it is indeed Catra.

“Catra! It’s ok. It’s just me.” Adora says, instantly getting the feline to calm down, before sitting down next to her on the bunk.

“It doesn’t matter what they do to us, you know?” Adora starts up again. “You look out for me, and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.”

“You promise?”

Realization smacks Glimmer hard in the face. She doesn’t even need to see the rest of the memory to see just why Catra had been so mad. 

“I promise.” Adora responds, as Catra proceeds to hug the blond. “Come on. Let’s get back.” And with that, the two simply walk off hand in hand.

The day Adora had left the Horde must have been really hard for Catra. Glimmer can understand it now. She can’t even begin to imagine the level of heartbreak that Catra underwent that day, when she discovered that the one person who truly had her back in the fright zone was leaving.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

This time, waking up from the spell doesn’t have the after effect of a nightmare. She can’t help but feel sorrow for the cat-girl sitting in front of her now though.

“Now you get it?” Catra asked, keeping her gaze downward.

“I think I do.” Glimmer can’t help but admit to herself that she did feel a similar heartbreak. The moment that Adora and Bow had disagreed with her about saving Entrapta had caused a great deal of pain. Now though, Glimmer realizes that pain was a clear result of her own actions.

“I” Catra starts up again. “I always thought that she broke that promise when she left. Now I.” She paused, sighing. “I realize now that I broke it just as bad, if not worse.”

Glimmer wasn’t too sure what to say, so instead, she simply sat quietly and listened.

“And the worst part.” Catra continued. “There’s no one left in the universe who cares about me now.” She sat at the edge of the bed now, bringing her knees into her chest and crossing her arms around them. “And I don’t blame them. All I do is hurt people.” The feline simply sat there after that. Glimmer could see fresh tears now forming in her eyes.

“Actually” Glimmer said, speaking up. “I don’t think that’s true.”

Catra looked up, appearing confused. Before she could even argue back though, Glimmer continued. “About the caring part, I mean.”

“What are you talking about?”

“There are still people who care about you.” Glimmer responded. “Scorpia still cares. Even after everything, she didn’t want me to hurt you. And believe it or not, I think Adora still does too.”

“Yea well.” Catra started, before bringing her gaze down again. “They shouldn’t.”

“But they still do.” Glimmer responded. “Don’t you get it Catra? Even after everything, there are people who still haven’t given up on you. This could be a chance to make things right with them. Don’t you want that?”

“And how exactly do you expect me to do that?” Catra said, now rising up from her position on the bed. Anger was now beginning to deep into her voice. “What could I possibly do after everything I’ve done?”

“It’s something that’s going to take time.” Glimmer responded. “But if you want my opinion.” She reached down, grasping one of the feline’s with both of her own. “Start by doing one good thing in your life.”

Catra was instantly taken aback. For a moment, Glimmer was scared that the cat-girl might just run off again, but then, her expression turned thoughtful. As Catra turned her gaze toward the cell’s forcefield, Glimmer followed it.

“I think I have an idea of how to get out of here.” Catra said quietly. Hoping the guard had not heard. “We need to move quickly too. There is a first one’s ship on its way here. I’m willing to bet Adora’s on it, isn’t she?”

Glimmer's reaction seemed to give Catra just the answer she needed. Before she could question what was going on, Catra got up and made to walk out.

“I have what I need.” She said to the guard. “Let me out.”

The guard lowered the forcefield, but just as soon as he did, Catra jumped him. She quickly wrestled him to the floor and stuck a hand in the whole in his neck, immobilizing him.

Catra looked back towards Glimmer and extended a hand. “Ready to go, Sparkles.”

Glimmer looked down at the extended hand. With a shaky breath, she nodded and grabbed it.

As the two went on to make their grand escape. Glimmer couldn’t help but feel different about the person in front of her. She honestly couldn’t help but smile. Perhaps good old Horde Scum Catra wasn’t quite the big bad villain that she had tried to make herself out to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was originally considering making this a one-shot, but hey, I had other ideas for scenes I wanted to make.


	2. What went down that fateful day?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a daring escape, a chance to see a past event allows for friends to apologize and grow closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back ladies and gentlemen. Did you miss me?
> 
> For any of who are wondering about time periods of each of these chapters, obviously the first one was right smack dab in the middle of season 5 episode 3. This chapter takes place somewhere between episodes 6 and 7
> 
> Also, this is officially the longest chapter that I have ever written

To say the last few days were exciting would be an understatement. Everything had gone absolutely crazy for Glimmer, from escaping Horde Prime’s flag ship, to getting stuck on a barren planet looking for fuel crystals, to returning to Horde Prime’s ship to rescue Catra and evade ships to escape. Yea, it had been one hell of a ride.

On top of that, Catra had now joined their group. If you would have told Glimmer that her friend group would include the Horde’s second in command, she would have laughed and thought you were crazy. If you had told her after that she had become queen, she likely would have wacked you upside the head.

Yet here she was, sitting up at the ship's dashboard, looking down at Etheria with everyone else, just waiting for the time they could all return home. Despite all the terrible things that the feline had done, Glimmer didn’t feel like she hated her anymore. She was even starting to feel more comfortable in Catra’s presence. 

Later that night(if it even was night. Could you even tell time effectively in space?), Glimmer, Adora, and Catra were helping to organize what became the ship’s storage space. Glimmer and Adora were discussing the topic of Angella once again.

“I feel like I can’t say sorry enough.” Glimmer said. “I just blamed you when you were the last person that I-.”

“It’s alright Glimmer.” Adora responded. “Honestly, I get how you were feeling. I would have felt really upset too.”

“I just wish that I would have come to terms with it sooner. I should never have blamed you in the first place. She made her own choice. You weren't responsible for anything that happened that day.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Adora said going to hug Glimmer. Glimmer hugged back, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Adora had truly been one of the best friends she could ask for.

“You should have seen her Glimmer.” Adora continued. “I just know you would have been proud.”

Proud? She knows that without her mom, the rebellion would have been toast, but something just won’t let her feel proud. It just feels like another example of her mother showing she is a much more capable leader than she is. Angella had made a noble sacrifice for the better of her people. It’s something that Glimmer is afraid of having to do. So yea, it’s hard to feel proud about what was likely her mother showing her up once again. If she could just see what had happened, maybe she could better understand what her mother intended.

That’s when it hits her. She could use Shadow Weaver’s spell and see exactly what happened, couldn’t she? All she had to do was get Adora to-.

She stopped that thought right there. Glimmer knew what that spell was capable of. There was no way she should subject Adora to having to go through that again. Being on the sidelines watching anyone die was sure to be a traumatic experience, let alone having to watch it twice.

“What is it?” Adora asked, apparently noticing Glimmer’s sudden unsteadiness.

“It’s nothing, Adora.” Glimmer responded. “I’m fine.”

Adora didn’t seem convinced. “Are you sure Glimmer? If there is a problem-.”

“I SAID IT’S FINE!” Adora jumps back from the sudden outburst, looking ready to bolt.

“Shit. Adora I-.” Great. Glimmer already had enough on her chest regarding Adora. Maybe she should just explain herself.

“Look.” She started. “Back when Shadow Weaver was teaching me magic, she taught me this spell. It lets me look into people’s memories. I think that she wanted to teach me how to alter them, but I never got a chance before-.” She paused. It wasn’t easy to talk about what was likely her worst mistake. “I thought about using it, but honestly, it’s a bad idea. It would cause you to have to relive that moment, exactly as it played out. I can’t ask you to do that.”

Adora seemed to be taking in what Glimmer had told her. Surprisingly, she appeared to actually be considering it.

“Glimmer.” She said, finally speaking up. “If you got to see what happened, would it make you feel better?”

“Yes but, are you sure about this, Adora?” Glimmer asked in response.

“I’m sure.” Adora said. “If it’s important to one of my friends, it's important to me.”

Glimmer was still a little hesitant to just jump in and cast the spell, not wanting to subject Adora to that after everything that happened. Regardless, the blonde seemed fine to let it happen. She really was willing to do whatever it takes to help out her friends. Glimmer can’t help but feel guilty. All she did in return was treat the blonde like crap and ignore her advice. Maybe knowing exactly what happened would help put everything to rest.

“Can I see too?”

The two turned to see Catra. The feline appeared to be nervous, as though she had been working up the courage to approach.

“You.. want to see what happened?” Glimmer asked.

‘Yea, it’s just. I thought.. maybe if it was more her choice when she died then-.” Catra paused, sighing. “Looks, it’s dumb. You probably don’t even want me to come, so I’m just going to go.”

“Wait.” Glimmer caught Catra’s arm before she walked out. “You can come along.” Just about everyone in the room was surprised, even the queen herself. Something just made it feel right to help out the feline.

“Are you sure?” Catra asked in response.

“You’re a friend too aren’t you?” Adora said. Glimmer could only smile and nod. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about Catra, but things between them were starting to get better. It left her pondering what the future had in store for them.

“Okay.” Catra said, still sounding hesitant.

Glimmer directed everyone back to one of the bedrooms and sat everyone down.

“So how exactly does this work with three people?” Catra asked.

“I remember one time practicing with Shadow Weaver.” Glimmer responded. “We essentially held hands the whole time. I guess just.. hold my hand and don’t let go?”

“Great.” Catra said, annoyed. “I’m possibly doing something dangerous, and the best thing you can say is to hold hands?”

“You got any better ideas.” Glimmer asked.

“Not really.” Catra said. “But if you think I’m holding hands-.”

“Catra.” Adora interrupted, sounding agitated. “Play nice, please.” Catra instantly looked away, her ears now drooping.

“Fine.” She said, before sticking out a hand for Glimmer to take hold of.

“Just keep the moment you want us to see in your head.” Glimmer explained to Adora. “It’ll help so that I don’t scroll through them and see something I shouldn’t.” She paused for a moment. “Are you sure you still want to go through with this?”

Adora took a breath to steady herself. “Yea. I’m sure.”

“Alright.” Glimmer still felt unsure, but regardless, she once again cast Shadow Weaver’s spell and grabbed Adora’s hand.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Upon opening her eyes, Glimmer is surrounded with a similar darkness. The only difference this time is that Catra is standing beside her. She looks confused, but then smirks.

“Huh.” She says. “I knew Adora was an idiot, but I didn’t think her head was this empty.”

“Just give it a minute.” Glimmer responds. “The memory will come.”

“It better come soon then.” Catra retorts.

And as a matter of fact, it does. The scene in front of them forms, and the two find themselves in the whispering woods. More specifically, they are at the beacon. The sky is a shade of purple, distinguishing that they are in fact inside the reality of the portal.

This, Glimmer remembers happening. She’s with Adora and Bow, and standing in front of them is-.

“Mara?”

Glimmer and Catra turn to, in fact, see the former Shera, just as Glimmer remembers. She’s then engulfed with the beacon into the portal.

The next conversation happens just as Glimmer remembers. Adora tries to go off on her own, but Glimmer and Bow work to reassure her by proving they remember her. Glimmer steals a look at Catra. Her expression appears neutral, but her ears are drooping.

“Wait. No. NO!”

Turning back to the past trio, Glimmer and Bow can be seen turning transparent.

“You got this Adora.” The Glimmer from the memory says. “We believe in you.”

The words don’t seem to do much for the blonde, as she just falls to the ground crying. Glimmer is moved to tears herself. One of her strongest friends all of a sudden looks so powerless. It makes her feel guilty for how she treated her afterwards.

“No.”

Glimmer turns to Catra all of a sudden to see her looking absolutely terrified.

“What’s wrong?” Glimmer asked.

“No no no.” Catra says. Glimmer follows her line of sight towards a shadowy figure in the distance. It looks kinda like-.

“Sparkles.” Catra says, interrupting Glimmer’s train of thought. “Please tell me you have a fast forward feature on this thing.”

“No.” Glimmer says, rather confused. “I don't even know if I can.” 

What about that figure was making Catra so scared? When the figure comes up to Adora, she suddenly understands. The figure is obviously Catra, and it seems that she is looking to pick a fight.

“Catra” Glimmer starts. “What did you do?”

Tears are now forming in the feline's eyes. “I fucked up.”

_“Heeeey Adoooraaaaa.”_

Glimmer turns her attention back in front of her. This Catra is partially covered in the blackness of the portal, and looks ready to tear Adora to shreds. She attacks and the scene changes around them, but it’s not like when the spell changes memories. The landscape of the portal actually changes, and all of a sudden, they’re in the tavern in the Crimson wastes.

_“Where are your friends?”_

Turning back in front of her, Catra is now attacking and ignoring Adora’s attempts to reason with her. She gets the blonde in a favorable hold and then cements her attentions with one phrase.

_“All of this, is your fault.”_

As Adora gets tossed, causing another scene change, it instantly becomes clear what Catra is trying to do. She wants to hurt Adora on both a physical and mental level. What better way to do it by making Adora believe that her failure was what caused all of this. It reminds Glimmer of how she blamed Adora for the loss of her mother.

“Please.” Catra says from beside her. “I don’t want to go through this again.”

Glimmer doesn’t know what to, so she goes with the simplest thing possible. “I’m sorry.” Shadow Weaver never showed her any way that she can traverse memories better, only how to observe them. She hadn't learned any tricks that would allow them to skip over this. A part of her wonders if she actually is sorry though. If Catra is actually hurting from this, doesn’t she deserve it then?

_“If you wouldn’t have gotten captured, your sword wouldn’t have opened the portal.”_

The portal Catra drags Adora over to the edge of what is now the platform in the Northern Reach.

_“If you hadn’t gotten the sword and been the world’s worst Shera, none of this would have happened.”_

As Adora is thrown over the edge, Glimmer can’t help but feel a mixture of anger and guilt. Adora worked her ass off as Shera, and Catra has the nerve to call her the worst Shera ever? And fuck, Glimmer herself had to go and pound that fact in.

The scene shifts to the seas of Salenias.

 _“Admit it, Adora.”_ The portal Catra started again. _“The world would still be standing, if you had never come through that portal in the first place.”_

Glimmer’s eyes go wide. She can just feel the subtext to Catra’s words.

The world would be a better place without you in it.

Those words couldn’t make Glimmer more angrier.

Catra’s hand slips out of hers, but Glimmer can hardly bring herself to care. Her focus is solely on what she is watching. The scene keeps changing, with Catra blaming Adora for everything bad that had happened. Eventually, the scene changes to Mara’s ship, and Catra has Adora pinned back to the pilot’s seat. Glimmer can imagine a thousand different things to happen from this scenario, not one of them are good. What actually does happen though, surprises her.

“NO IT’S NOT!” Adora shoves Catra back, and they are back to the portal warped landscape.

“I didn’t make you do anything”. Adora is fighting back, and now has the upper hand. She counters Catra’s next attack with ease.

“I didn't break the world, but I am going to fix it. And you, you made your choice.” Glimmer had never seen Adora get angry at Catra, but now there is no mistaking how she feels now.

With a scream, Catra charges in, but once again Adora is ready for it.

“NOW LIVE WITH IT!”

And with just one swift punch, the feline is out cold. Glimmer can’t help but just stare at Catra’s now motionless body. Adora had managed to fight back and give Catra what she deserved. It doesn’t feel like it’s enough, though. Everything is just making her anger culminate.

“I couldn’t do it.”

The sudden voice comes as a surprise. She turns around to see something that surprises her even more. Catra, curled up in a ball, crying her eyes out. All of a sudden, Glimmer doesn’t feel so angry.

“I tried so hard to listen to her.” Catra starts again. “To deal with the consequences of what I did and show everyone how strong I was, but I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t do it.” She sinks her head down so that her eyes are no longer visible. “I thought I could come out on top, but all I did was fuck up and ruin everything. I’m no good at doing anything right.”

Glimmer can feel herself starting to cry again. She honestly can’t believe the sight in front of her. Never in her life would she imagined that under the mantle of a strong fierce force captain, would be a scared little girl. Someone who was so scared the world would swallow her whole, that she had tried to show she was strong enough to fight back. The only problem was that she had made her life worse in the process, doing so many things she ended up regretting. Now, she feared that she had caused irreparable damage.

Glimmer understood exactly what Catra was going through. It was the same thing going on with herself as queen. The main difference was in their views. Glimmer wanted to look for a foundation to make repairs, whereas Catra didn’t think one existed.

“Catra.” Glimmer said. “That can’t be true.” There still had to be a chance for things to get better for the feline. After all, if Bow and Adora had allowed Glimmer a chance after the horrible things she did as queen, surely Catra could have a chance as well.

“It is true.” Catra responds, looking up at Glimmer again. ‘Do you honestly think we have a chance at being friends after everything I did?”

“I don’t know.” Glimmer said.

Glimmer honestly didn’t know how to feel. Sure Catra had done some awful things, but truthfully, Glimmer couldn’t even recognize the former force captain. In fact, it felt like the feline had completely changed. Maybe there was a chance for things to be better between them. Glimmer strangely found herself hoping for it even. It was defiantly a possibility. After all, Catra had gone out of her way to help save her. Maybe this was the good side of the feline that Adora had always talked about.

Glimmer goes over to Catra and places a hand on her leg. “But I hope I can.”

Catra looks up at Glimmer, surprised to hear such words coming from her. She glares at the queen skeptically.

“Bullshit." She says. "You can’t possibly mean that.” 

Glimmer sighs. “To be honest Catra, if you had said that before Prime showed up, I’d agree with you. I really did hate you.”

Catra shrunk back into herself. “Yea, what else is new?”

“But the more I think of it.” Glimmer starts again. She points a finger at the unconscious version of Cara from the memory. “I think that was more the person I had hated.” Catra is peering back up at Glimmer now. The queen then pokes at Catra's leg. “This person here, I can’t help but feel I could be really good friends with.”

Catra’s reaction is instantaneous. Her eyes are wide open and her mouth hangs in shock. All the while, Glimmer just smiles and offers a hand. Catra at first appears hesitant to grab it, but after a moment, she takes hold and lets Glimmer pull her up. The queen can't help but smile, feeling hopeful.

Before they can get too comfortable, the ground breaks away into nothing. Glimmer and Catra grab onto each other, bracing for the fall. To their surprise though, they find themselves in the same positions they were in, simply standing there as though the ground had never disappeared. The two break apart, both blushing. They keep their hands connected though, for the sake of the spell.

The two turn around just in time to see the past version of Catra fade away into nothingness. Adora appeared about to suffer the same fate as her hands began to fade. Glimmer can feel her heart about to constrict.

“Adora! Hold on!”

Glimmer and Catra have their attention drawn to the new voice to find Angela flying toward Adora.

“Mom!” Glimmer shouts, glad that Adora would not be the one that perishes.

Angella proceeds to grab Adora and fly them to a landmass that is somehow still intact. Both Glimmer and Catra breath a sigh of relief.

“I remember Adora.” Angella says. “I know this world is not our own. How do we fix it?”

So her mom had actually caught on to what had been going on. Glimmer’s own recollection of the portal had begun to come back to her. Angella had fought against her and Adora back then along with-.

Her father. He actually hadn’t been a false component of the portal after all. For a moment, Glimmer pondered what her father’s own experience was like on that fateful day.

Adora’s attention is simply drawn up to the swirling vortex created by the portal. Glimmer can see her putting two and two together for what needs to happen. Glimmer remembers as well. Someone needed to go into the portal and pull out the sword. Although, that person would become trapped between dimensions in the process.

There’s just one thing that confuses Glimmer. Adora is talking like she is going to do it. That shouldn’t be right though. Angella had been the one to sacrifice herself. Why did it seem like Adora is going to do it?

“Adora.” Angella says questioningly. “You’ll come back too, right?”

And it’s then that the reality of the moment hits her. Tears begin to fall down her face. 

“I have to do this.” Adora says. “This is my destiny.”

Catra seems to pick up on it too, because she also speaks up.

“No” She says, now also crying. “Adora no.”

“No Adora.” Angella says, hugging Adora. “This is not it.”

“But, this is the only way to fix things.”

“NO.” Catra says again. “You big idiot, it doesn’t have to be you. What the fuck are you doing Adora?” Glimmer can only look on crying as one of her closest friends is about to give her life. All this time, Glimmer had blamed Adora for her mother’s death, when the blonde herself had been all but willing to give her life to save everyone. Glimmer can only hang her head in shame. Adora had gone through this, and all she did was punish her further.

“Do you want to know a secret?” Angella asks Adora. “I.. am.. a coward.”

 _What?!_ Her mother actually considered herself a coward? For so long, Glimmer had always thought of her mother as the perfect leader. Even after she had learned of Angella’s first failure, she had thought the former queen had overcome that mistake. Now though, she knows just what her mom had felt on the inside. Glimmer’s last words to her mom come back to her. She’s not sure what makes her feel more guilty, the fact that she had called her mom a coward herself, or the fact that she had been right.

“I’ve always been the queen that stays behind.” Angella continued on, now a short distance away. “Micah was the brave one. And then Glimmer… Oh Glimmer.”

Tears begin to form as stream as Angella continues on, mentioning how Micah, and even Glimmer herself were even braver to her. The current queen ends up squeezing Catra’s hand to try and keep herself grounded. The feline stifles a groan causing Glimmer to look over. The feline simply looks toward her sadly, ears drooping, before eventually turning her focus back in front of her.

“I told myself I was being responsible.”Angella continues. “but Adora, I was just scared. And then I met you.”

The sudden change of direction throws Glimmer for a loop. As her mother continues on about how Adora had inspired her, the new queen can’t help but feel the same way. So many things had changed since Adora had become her friend. The blonde really had helped make her stronger.

“And now, I choose to be brave.”

And with a kiss to Adora, Angella flies off toward the portal.

“No!” Adora screamed. “Your majesty! Angela!”

“Mom!” Glimmer yelled. For once, Glimmer had hoped that her screams would do something, but alas, it was all for not. Her mother kept on flying up towards the portal, towards her own demise.

Nothing had happened as Glimmer had expected. She would have thought her mother would have been more willing to give herself up. Perhaps she would have given some sort of speech about how a leader will do anything to ensure the safety of her people, telling Adora to help Glimmer fill a similiar role. Glimmer just thought it would go in some way where her mother would show herself to be the strong one and that Glimmer was yet to reach that mark.

She never would have imagined that her mother would actually admit to being scared, or that she had never lived up to expectations. Even now, Glimmer can’t imagine how hard this must be, as Angella flies off toward her doom.

The final nail in the coffin happens when Angella turns back toward Adora.

“Take care of each other.”

And with that, Angella removes the sword, closing the portal. All that is left afterwards is the sword floating downward.

Glimmer can’t help but feel that she had let her mother down. After the portal, all she had been good for was pushing her friends away. Adora had been better at listening to her mother. Maybe she was a little too good, but that didn’t excuse how Glimmer acted. Neither Adora nor Bow deserved the treatment she gave them.

Glimmer feels a soft squeeze on her hand, and she turns to see Catra almost as distraught. The feline seems hesitant, but after a moment, she lifts up her free hand. It takes a second, but then she realizes Catra is offering a hug. Glimmer crashes into Catra without so much as a second thought.

“I’m sorry.” Catra says. “I’m so sorry, Glimmer.”

Glimmer doesn’t have it in her to respond. She simply buries herself further into Catra’s shoulder, thankful to have the support of someone to cry into. She’s still not sure what Catra is, but in that moment, the feline feels more like a friend than she ever has. The two just stand there like that, crying into each other’s shoulders, afraid that the slightest movement could ruin the moment. Finally they both back away, wiping their faces free of tears.

“Thank you.” Glimmer says. Catra gives a light smile, and Glimmer can't help but smile as well. The two take time to clean themselves up, and with one "For the Honor of Grayskull" from Adora, the scene ends.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The three awaken with a gasp, all breathing heavily. Glimmer chances a look at Adora and sees her about as much of a mess as Catra had been. Well that makes about three people in absolute disarray.

“Adora!” Glimmer says, attempting to speak. “I’m so-.“

“You fucking idiot.” Catra interrupts, causing both ladies to turn towards her.

“Catra-“

“No, Adora.” The feline interrupts again, clearly angry. “Don’t you dare try to make excuses for this one. Did you even think about what your friends would think if you had died?! Fuck, if I would have actually killed you then-.” She cut herself off, going silent. Catra looked like a total train wreck now as tears flowed down her cheeks.

Glimmer couldn’t believe what she heard. For the second time in a couple of days, Catra seemed totally against the prospect of Adora dying. Maybe that was another thing she was wrong about. Despite everything, there was something deep inside Catra that just couldn’t bear to see Adora get hurt. Whatever part of her that used to be friends with Adora still existed. 

“She’s right.” Glimmer said. And Catra was right, because honestly, it would have been so much worse if Adora had died over her mother. If that happened, Glimmer didn’t think she would be able to take it. She’d likely spend an eternity in her room blaming herself for not trying hard enough. Maybe she would even blame Angella. In a way, her mother dying served as the lesser of two evils.

Adora turns to back to the queen, now looking even more worried.

“Adora.” Glimmer starts again. “If you would have ended up dying, I don’t think I’d stop being awful about it.” She paused, sniffling. “Fuck, I can’t believe I blamed you when really you could have-.” She broke off, now crying.

“Glimmer.” Adora was quick to hug the young queen. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking things through. I should have thought about you more. Maybe I could have avoided anyone trapping themselves in the portal, and I-“. She paused. “I shouldn’t have tried to interfere with you so much while you were queen.”

Glimmer backed out of the hug and whipped her eyes. “I’m sorry too.” She said. “For as much as I wanted some freedom, I should have taken your input seriously. I should have listened to you instead of going to activate the Heart of Etheria.” _Maybe then we wouldn’t be in this mess._

“And I’m sorry too.” Catra said after a short moment. “Even while fighting you guys, I don’t think there has been a single day that has gone by where I didn’t regret pulling that lever.” She curls up into a ball on the bed, now full on crying. “It seems that all I am capable of doing is making things worse. Maybe I should just go off on my own. I’d be a horrible friend anyway.”

Glimmer can’t help but feel like she was stabbed in the heart. Catra still didn’t seem to think forgiveness was a possibility. All of a sudden, she wants to help comfort her. One look at Adora, and she can tell the blonde is thinking the same thing. With a nod to each other, they both go over and hug Catra. The feline gives a small yelp in surprise.

“What are you doing?” She asks, sounding rather confused.

“Telling you you’re wrong.” Adora said to the feline. “You’re not a horrible friend.”

“She’s right Catra.” Glimmer said. “I know I don’t have a lot of experience with this side of you, but you don’t seem so horrible to me.”

Catra looks back at the two huggers. She seemed shocked that all she saw were two big smiles.

“But.” Catra responded, attempting a rebuttal. “I hurt you both so much. I opened the portal and-”

“No Catra.” Glimmer responded. “It’s like I said, that was the old you. The new you was capable of doing something good, and I’m willing to bet she can do it again.”

Catra is now in absolute shock, seeming completely unable to comprehend what Glimmer is saying. Instead of speaking, the feline simply curled back up and let her companions continue to hug her. She was full on crying now.

After some time, Glimmer helped see the two to bed, only leaving once she was absolutely sure they would be ok. From there, she walked to the room that her and bow were currently sharing. Bow was standing at a desk there observing some schematics, and turned to her when she entered.

“Hey.” He said. “Sorry I ended up helping Entrapta for longer than expected.” He walked over, but then picked up on her behavior. “Are you alright?”

“Yea.” Glimmer answered, before taking a moment to breath. “Me, Catra, and Adora were just talking. The portal came up, and we all apologized for everything that happened.” She paused, sniffling. “We were able to put it in the past.”

“That’s good.” Bow added, smiling. “I’m glad you were all able to work things out.”

“Yea.” Glimmer sighed. Despite that talk, there was still one person she hadn’t yet apologized to that she still felt she needed to.

“And bow.” Glimmer started, taking a breath to steady herself. “I know I said it already but, I’m really sorry for everything that happened.”

The sudden change in subject seemed to surprise Bow.

“You were just trying to help me do what was right, and all I did was-.” She broke off, starting to cry. She thought back on all the things she had said to Adora and him. It made her sick to her stomach.

“Hey.” Bow said. He reached out, placing his hands on her shoulders. “It’s ok Glimmer.”

“It’s just” Glimmer responded, sniffling. “I pushed you away just because I couldn’t take you and Adora being right. I can’t believe you forgot about it already.”

“Honestly, I haven’t.” Bow said, surprising Glimmer. Bow took a moment to guide her over to the bed, where they both sat down.

“Look.” Bow said. “You really did do some bad things before, and really I’m still not over them.” Glimmer can’t help but feel awful. Bow had been one of her really closest friends, and she had gone and treated him like crap. 

“But I also haven’t forgotten how you’re working to fix it.” Bow continued, placing a hand on her shoulder. “And I know you Glimmer. You wouldn’t be able to stand yourself if you couldn’t make things right.” Glimmer looked back up now, tears beginning to form in her eyes for another time that day. “Besides, after risking your life to get that fuel for us, I’d say you’re well on track.”

“Ugh.” Glimmer said. “Did I mention I hate it when you're right, cause I still do.” She sounded annoyed but was obviously smiling. Bow had grown to know her really well.

“What can I say?.” Bow responded. “It’s what I do. Why don’t we get some rest? I don't know what time it is on Etheria, but I am starting to get tired.” He finished yawning. 

Glimmer felt a yawn come on as well. “Sure. I could use some sleep as well.”

With that, the two curled up in bed and got some well deserved rest. Glimmer couldn’t help but feel more happy than she ever had in recent months.

When she woke up, she found that Bow had gotten out of bed and left a note. Upon reading it, she learned that he had gone to help Entrapta get some parts for her communicator, and that he would return so that the group could eat breakfast together. (Was it even the proper time for breakfast?). She wondered how long she had been asleep if Bow had gotten up first. Glimmer felt more refreshed than she had recently been.

As Glimmer got ready for her day, she couldn’t help but think back to what she had seen. Her mother had worked to overcome her fear to save everyone. She had decided to be brave for the first time in a very long time.

Adora was right. Glimmer was proud of her mother. Being a good queen meant making hard choices for the better of your people. Sometimes those choices required a great deal of sacrifice or courage or were very hard to make. Angela had made a tough choice, and now it was her turn to take the mantle. Glimmer made a promise to herself right then and there to continue being just as brave, because like hell was she going to let her mother’s sacrifice be in vain.

“Something on your mind Sparkles.”

Glimmer shrieked in surprise. She was so lost in thought, she hadn’t heard Catra walk up beside her. The feline chuckled.

“Wow.” Catra said as her laughs died down. “Who knew you're just as jumpy as Adora? Maybe you won’t be as boring to hang around as I thought.”

“Ugggh” Glimmer groaned. Turns out that Catra was still capable of being extremely annoying. “You know, I may not have powers out in space, but I”m just as capable of kicking you out into the airlock.” She finished off by giving Catra a playful shove.

“Well then.” Catra responded, easily catching herself. “You’re gonna have to catch me first. I hope you're at least faster than Adora.”

In response to the playful jab, Glimmer tried to jump at her, only for the feline to easily dodge. Glimmer groans and tries to chase after Catra. The feline easily skates down the hallways, staying well ahead. They eventually duck into a spare storage room, where they run around the isles. After a few minutes, Glimmer is left panting with Catra perched on a nearby shelving.

“Wow.” Catra taunts. “You’re actually slower than Adora.”

“You’re lucky.. I have.. nothing to.. throw.” Glimmer said, panting..

“Please.” Catra responded. “Your aim is probably just as bad. You couldn’t even hit me with sparkle blasts when you actually wanted to hit me.”

“How about we prove it back on Etheria, then?” Glimmer responded. “Put your money where your mouth is bitch!”

Catra smirked, jumping down from her perch and walking up to Glimmer. “Now that’s one deal I’ll be glad to shake on.”

“What’s going on?”

The two women turned to see Bow standing in the doorway, looking concerned. Catra put an arm around Glimmer, and leaned her head into her shoulder.

“Oh nothing.” She said with a smirk. “Just chillin out with my new BFF.”

“Sure.” Glimmer said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. “That’s definitely the word I would use.”

“I knew it was.” Catra teased. “Well, I’m going to go bug Adora. Bye Bye now.” And with a pat pat to Glimmer’s head, Catra walked away, leaving Bow just standing there perplexed. After a moment of confused staring, he turned back to Glimmer.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” He asked. “If something happened , I can-.”

“I’m fine Bow.” Glimmer interrupted. “My pride was the only thing hurt if anything.”

“I could still give her a piece of my mind for that if you want.” Bow responded.

“It’s no big deal Bow.” Glimmer said, blushing lightly. Bow was sweat, but sometimes he could get a little too protective of her.

“Well, if you’re sure.” Bow responded, and with a nod from Glimmer, the two walked off.

“So.” Glimmer started. “Were you able to make any progress on Entrapta’s communicator.”

“Sure was.” Bow responded. ‘Unfortunately, we have to be in range of Etheria to properly send a signal. Entrapta is working on how to do that, but it’ll take time before we can contact the other princesses.”

“Well, at least things are looking better.” Glimmer responded. Hopefully they can get back soon, so that they could aid in the fight against Prime.

“Have seen Adora by the way?” Bow asked. “I was going to grab you all so we could all eat together, but I wasn’t able to find her.”

“No”. Glimmer said. “I haven’t seen her since last night. Kinda surprised she wasn’t with Catra to be honest.”

“Yea. Me, too.” Bow said. “I haven’t checked the bridge yet, wanna come with me?”

“Sure”

Adora was in fact on the bridge. She was giving another go at harnessing Shera. How exactly Adora was able to materialize her newfound sword out of thin air, Glimmer would never know. She learned that Shera’s magic was far more unusual and powerful than the other princesses.

Bow and Glimmer looked on in awe as Adora attempted to summon the sword. Glimmer and Bow cemented themselves behind the command chair where Adora was sitting. The blonde’s eyes began to glow. This was already better than her last attempt and it appeared as though something would happen. Well, that was until Bow interrupted.

“Awww. You almost had it.” He says, breaking Adora’s concentration.

“Will you stop distracting me?” Adora yelled, sounding rather annoyed.

“Sorry.” Bow apologized. “But there was definitely some glowy action going on there.”

“Cmon Adora.” Glimmer said, deciding it was time she was a supportive friend again. “You can’t let distractions keep you from transforming.”

“What’s going on?”

Speaking of distractions, Adora’s biggest one seemed to pick the perfect time to enter.

“Ooh, are we messing with Adora?” Catra said, running up and jumping right into the blonde’s lap. Glimmer did her best to repress a snort of laughter. The two honestly looked cute together. Glimmer decided to file that note away for later.

“Catra?” Adora said, still sounding irritated. “Do you have to sit right there?”

“What?” She said innocently, but looking smug. “I’m not doing anything.”

The group was getting off track, so Glimmer chose right then to speak up. “Adora! Concentrate!”

“Yea Adora,” Catra said. “Concentrate”

“You can do it!” Bow added.

Adora took a moment to swat Catra’s tail out of the way and then try again. Everyone watched in awe as Shera’s sword began to form from thin air. Everything was going great until Entrapta and Wrong Hordak came in.

“This way.” The scientist said, eliciting another agitated groan from Adora. “Oh, hi Adora. Don’t mind us.”

“Entrapta, do you have to do that right there?”

“Yes.” The scientist responded. “This is where the signal is strongest. We’re less than a day out from Etheria. We’ll be in range to send a message to the rebellion soon.”

The idea of talking to the rebellion again made Glimmer think about her father. For so long, she had thought that he was dead. The idea of meeting him once again excited her.

“I can’t believe.. I’m a day away from meeting my dad.” She said. “It’s been so long. I barely remember him.”

Bow came over and placed a hand on Glimmer’s shoulder. She responded by reaching a hand up to take his.

“I wonder what he’ll be like.” Glimmer said.

“Well,” Bow started. “If the time I met him is anything to go by, I’d say you’re just like him.”

Glimmer couldn’t help but blush at that. Bow always seemed to know just the right thing to say to her.

“I can’t wait then.” She responded excitedly. 

The two noticed that Adora and Catra had congregated to the window, so they went to join him.

“I wonder what’s going on right now on Etheria?” Bow asked. 

Glimmer found herself curious as well. What exactly were the other princess doing? She peered over at Catra. How would they react to Catra being with them, to telling them she was a friend now? Strangely enough, even after everything, Glimmer found herself hoping for good things to happen.

She couldn’t help but smile as she thought back to earlier. Catra had called Glimmer her BFF, although jokingly. While Glimmer didn’t think that was the word she would use to describe her relationship with Catra, she found herself hoping that one day it could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed. Until the next time I upload. Hopefully it will be sooner this this time around.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all are enjoying this fic. I would love to hear what you all think of it.


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